Round 9 Feature Match: Micah Garcia vs. Victor Santana

March 25th, 2012

Victor Santana is 6-2 so far today, coming off a win in the last round. Both of these Duelists are clinging to life in this tournament. A 10-2 finish by the end of the twelve rounds of Swiss competition may qualify a Duelist for the top 64, but a 9-3 finisher will have a much harder time. Everything was on the line from here on out.

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Duel One

Garcia started off the Match Summoning InzektorCentipede. He equipped it with InzektorHopper from his hand, but when he used Hopper’s effect to send Hopper to the Graveyard, Santana Chained EffectVeiler’s ability to shut down Centipede’s effect. Garcia had aimed to send Hopper to the Graveyard, strictly to trigger Centipede’s search, but Veiler shut him down. Garcia Set a card to his back row.

Santana had a hand of DarkHole, EvoltileWestlo, EffectVeiler, EvoltileNajasho, SolemnJudgment, and StarlightRoad. He destroyed Centipede with DarkHole, then Set Westlo, Solemn, and StarlightRoad. He lost SolemnJudgment in his End Phase to Garcia’s MysticalSpaceTyphoon.

Garcia Summoned InzektorHopper, then sent InzektorHornet from his Deck to his Graveyard with FoolishBurial. He equipped then used Hornet to destroy StarlightRoad. Hopper attacked into Westlo, letting Santana Special Summon EvolsaurDiplo from his Deck, destroying Garcia’s Set FiendishChain. Garcia had one card left in hand; it was Inzektor Giga-Mantis, and he equipped it to Hopper to end his turn.

Santana drew Evo-Force. He Set Najasho, Tributed it for Evo-Force, and used his two Special Summon effects to Summon EvolsaurCerato, then another Diplo from his Deck. Diplo’s effect destroyed Giga-Mantis, letting Garcia Special Summon Hornet in Defense Position with its effect. Santana stacked his two Diplos to Xyz Summon Wind-Up Zenmaister, turning Westlo face-down. Santana then Flip Summoned Westlo, Special Summoning again! He Special Summoned EvolsaurVulcano, which Special Summoned back Diplo! Santana stacked Diplo and Vulcano for EvolzarLaggia, then attacked with Cerato over Hopper, dishing out 500 damage and fetching Evoltile Westlo from his Deck with Cerato’s effect. Westlo attacked Hornet, and Laggia made a direct attack for 2400 Battle Damage. Zenmaister attacked next. Garcia had 2800 Life Points left, no cards, and was conceding moments later.

A solid opening turns into some serious Evoltile insanity, as a topdecked Evo-Force lets Victor Santana erupt with an explosive string of Special Summon combos! One more win like that would keep Santana alive in this tournament.

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Duel Two

Garcia Set a monster, then Set a card to his back row.

Santana had PotofDuality, EvolsaurDiplo, HeavyStorm, ChainDisappearance, Evo-Force, and EnemyController. Duality revealed EvolsaurVulcano, EvolsaurCerato, and TorrentialTribute from the top of his Deck; Santana added Cerato to his hand. He Summoned it, and attacked to destroy InzektorDragonfly. He Set ChainDisappearance.

Garcia Summoned InzektorCentipede, then equipped it with Inzektor Sword – Zektkaliber! Centipede – buffed to 2400 ATK – attacked to destroy Cerato. Garcia Set another card to his Spell and Trap Card Zone.

Santana drew another Cerato. After thinking a while, he passed.

Garcia activated Centipede’s effect, equipping InzektorHornet to destroy Santana’s Chain Disappearance. Garcia searched his Deck for Dragonfly, equipping it with Hornet. He destroyed his own Sword with Hornet, triggering the Sword’s effect and Dragonfly’s ability; he Special Summoned a second Centipede, and returned Giga-Mantis to his hand! Garcia stacked his Dragonfly with the used Centipede, Xyz Summoning Number 17; Leviathan Dragon, and detached Dragonfly to boost Leviathan to 2500 ATK. Centipede equipped Hornet and Giga-Mantis, Garcia destroyed Giga-Mantis with Hornet, then Special Summoned Dragonfly from his Graveyard. Two Centipede effects let him get two Swords from his Deck, and another Centipede later, a second Leviathan let Garcia seal the deal! He wound up with a field of two Leviathans, a Giga-Brilliant, and InzektorHopper.

Micah Garcia evens the score, creating a devastating string of combos that surpassed even that which defeated him in the previous Duel! The pressure was on!

Duel Three

Santana opened the last Duel with a hand of Pot of Duality, ChainDisappearance, EvolsaurDiplo, EnemyController, and two Shadow-Imprisoning Mirror. He activated Duality to reveal EvoltileWestlo, EvoltileDiplo, and HeavyStorm, and instantly took the Westlo! As long as Garcia didn’t have a HeavyStorm, business was about to pick up! Santana Set Westlo, ChainDisappearance, and both copies of Shadow-ImprisoningMirror.

Garcia had the HeavyStorm he needed! Santana lost all three of his Trap Cards! Garcia Summoned InzektorHornet, equipped it with Giga-Mantis, and smacked into EvoltileWestlo to destroy it; Santana Special Summoned EvolsaurDiplo to destroy Giga-Mantis. Garcia destroyed Diplo with SmashingGround, then Set a card to his back row.

Garcia blew that card away – TorrentialTribute – with InzektorHornet. Hopper attacked. It was all over two turns later, as Hopper repeatedly equipped Hornet to blast through Santana’s topdecked cards.

A promising opening for Victor Santana sours under the pressure of a devastating three-card Heavy Storm, and despite a valiant effort, Santana just can’t quite fight back. Micah Garcia moves on with a 7-2 record!